Athletes and non-athletes are increasingly using training plans for their workouts. These training plans specify certain exercises/routines and corresponding goals and, in some cases, can include areas for the user to record his or her results (e.g., finished, times, weight levels, etc.). A training plan can include one or more individual workouts. Current training plans are typically offered as a hard copy/print out plan. With written training plans, the user can see all the workouts assigned to him or her and the dates when they need to be done. With a static audio plan the user is getting instruction but without any real-time guidance related to form, time or performance. With video plans, the user sees the workout but is limited to exercising in an area where there is access to a video monitor. In all cases, the user is without the benefit of feedback and without the benefit of a coach who can monitor and adjust the workout intensity or other relevant features of the workout. Without a personal coach, it is the responsibility of the user to understand and remember the workout and how to execute it properly per the plan. It can be very difficult to remember the details of complex workouts and keep track of such timing and efforts without distractions of reading the training plan (and recording entries in the training plan such as heart rate). In addition, such training plans can also be difficult for the casual or occasional user to accurately follow and to understand if the intensity of the effort is in line with the plan.
Training plans (and workouts) often specify heart rate (HR) zones in order to define the intensity and the stress on the body of a user. However, it can be very difficult to know/understand the relative HR for the user and to perform the workouts within certain HR zones to make them most effective. As a result, most people who casually exercise or exercise without a coach are likely to perform their workouts ineffectively or incorrectly. Such poor performance result in limited or very slow progress towards their exercise/fitness goal and can be un-motivating and undermine the goal.